June 2015

I can't believe June is over already!  We were so busy last month that it just seemed to fly by.  My kids are at really fun ages so summer has been so fun so far.  We've just been staying busy and trying to stay out of the heat. Just a quick update on whats been going on with the boys.  

Link

Link is definitely in the terrible 2's right now.  He's really fun but he can also be kind of a stinker.  He hates bed it's a fight every night to get him to sleep.  He is in the in between stage if he takes a nap he won't go to bed but if he doesn't he's really grumpy. It's been kind of tough especially since it doesn't get dark until so late he won't go to bed early.  

Link loves to run!  I can't take him to a store if they don't have carts.  He has to have something to hold him in or he just runs around like a wild man.  He loves to be outside and swim.  

Jacks

Jacks is really enjoying the summer.  He loves to swim and go to the splash pad.  He's had a lot of friends to play with.  He plays with one of his friends from preschool a lot and his cousins a ton and he loves it!

Popcorn movie with their cousins

The boys have been great and seriously getting so big.  We've had so much fun this month and definitely kept busy.  We have a punch pass to the pool so we've been trying to go as much as possible and my boys love it!  Jacks has no fear at all he just dives under the water without even plugging his nose and he loves the water slide he'll even go down by himself.  Link loves the pool as well.  He loves to go in the deep end with Jacks.We love going to splash pads and just trying to stay cool in this crazy heat.

  
My brother Sean was able to come for a week to visit before he moved.  It was really good to see him and Link loved seeing Amy.  Link loves Amy!  He told me everyday they were here "I want to play with Amy."  He still asks me about Amy and asks when he can play with her again.

We went to the Aquarium for the first time and loved it!  It's super expensive but it was really fun.  Both of my boys absolutely loved it!

Coolest shark tank ever.

4D movie. Loved it

We've been spending tons of time outside at the park and just enjoying the summer. We unfortunately haven't been hiking a lot this month because it's been so hot.  We hiked the Y at the beginning of the month before it got to hot.    

Y hike with this handsome guy

Summerfest parade

Summerfest pararde

Springville reservoir

Springville reservoir

Probably my favorite picture ever!  Jacks looks just like his dad.

The boys and I went to Salem Pond with some of Jordan's family and they loved it!  The boys had a ton of fun just hanging out swimming with their cousins.

He seriously loves to swim 

Birthdays
We celebrated Jackson's birthday in June with a swimming party with his cousins.  Seriously can't believe the kid is 4. He has a whole post dedicated to his party so I won't post pictures but it was really fun and we all had a really good day.

For my birthday we went to Yuba Lake with Jordan's family.  The night before we found our floats in the basement and blew them up to make sure they didn't have holes.  The boys LOVED them!  They would not get off them.  They loved them so much that they wanted to sleep on them.  Link didn't last very long but Jacks actually slept the whole night on his float.

We spent the day at Yuba Lake boating and swimming.  The boys loved it.  The boys got kind of scared tubing but they loved to swim and just play with their cousins.  

He loved the boat!  He loved to drive and didn't want to get out.  He called it the "Optimus boat"

Photo bombed

June was really fun and crazy busy.  The boys are so much fun and I've been loving working less and staying home with them a lot more.  They are at such fun ages right now we have so much fun.  They can be crazy and wild but always so much fun to hang out with.

Preschool

Jacks just finished his first year of preschool at the end of May.  He absolutely loved it! His first year of preschool was really more of a social growth for him than an academic growth.  He made a lot of friends and got the social interaction he needed.  He didn't really learn as much as I would have like him to.  He had amazing teachers he just really struggled. I've been trying to work with Jackson at home since the beginning of June and he's already made some progress.  He's a really smart little boy he just struggles with paying attention and certain other areas.  

When Link takes his nap it's Jacks time and we sit down together and do preschool work.  At first I really had no idea what to do and how to teach him.  I think we have a system now that is really working.  He's made a lot of progress in the last month.  I've printed a ton of handwriting worksheets off and put them in sheet protectors in a binder and let him use a dry erase marker to write on them.  We start out by doing  a worksheet then do a craft, worksheet, game and then a science experiment. Jacks kind of hates worksheets.  I have to break it up and just try to find crafts and games that are educational and help him with numbers, letters, colors, and basic skills like cutting and gluing. He loves science experiments, crafts, and games. I bought him some leap frog movies and try to make him watch those when he watches tv.  Those have actually helped a lot with his letters and counting.  
It's been a lot of work and can get really frustrating.  I definitely have more respect for teachers now I could not do it! It's been hard but totally worth it it's really fun to see Jacks learn and progress.  He still has a long way to go to get ready for kindergarten and even catch up to some of the other kids his age.  He still has another year of preschool left so I'm hoping that he'll catch on and be ready for kindergarten next year.    

Jackson's Progress:
-When Jacks finished preschool he could only count to 3.  We've been working really hard counting everything, playing games, and singing songs.  It's been something he really struggles with.  He can count to 6 now!
-Jacks didn't really know any of his colors.  I really wondered if he was color blind for a long time because he just does not get his colors for some reason.  In the last month he's learned yellow, orange, blue and he knows green sometimes.
-A month ago he didn't know any letters.  Now he knows what sound the A makes.
-Jacks is getting better at basic skills like cutting and gluing.
-Jackson's attention span seems to be getting better he is getting better at sitting for longer.
-Jacks really struggles with handwriting.  He hates it!  He still struggles to hold his pencil correctly and it's always kind of a fight for us to get him to hold it correctly.  He is getting better at tracing things.  He can trace but writing independently without something to trace is a serious struggle.

By the time Jacks starts preschool in August I'd really like for him to be caught up to other kids his age and be able to do the following things:
-Count to 10
-Consistently hold his pencil correctly
-Write his name: this one I know is a stretch but we're really going to work on it.
-Learn all the colors.
-Cut a straight line
-Use appropriate amount of glue.

Last day of preschool

Some of Jackson's favorite projects

Watercolors and pipe cleaner spider

Monsters made of baking clay

Jackson's Birthday

For Jackson's birthday we had a couple of parties.  His birthday was on a Sunday so the day before we had a swimming party with Jordan's family then on his actual birthday we just went to my parent's house and had dinner and cake.
Hales Party

He had so much fun with his cousins

Jacks is so sweet and he shared his toys with Link,

The boys had so much fun I didn't really get that many pictures because they were to busy playing to take pictures.  They love their cousins they had so much fun swimming and just playing.

Jackson's birthday was Father's Day so we celebrated both. We went to church and Jacks got up in sacrament meeting and sang with the primary.  I was so proud of him on Mothers day he was to scared to go up there.  He walked up all by himself and wasn't even scared.
After church we went to Jordan's parents and Jacks got to play with some of his cousins for a while.  His cousin had some cute Halloween costumes and Jacks loved them!  They ran around and played together for a while.  Then we went to my parents house.

At my parent's we ate dinner Jacks favorite pizza, mac and cheese, and hot dogs.  He opened presents and ate cake.  He had a really fun birthday.  I can't believe he's 4!  He's such a sweet little guy and we had so much fun celebrating his birthday.  

Jacks 4 Years Old

My cute little Jacks is 4! I can't believe how fast the past 4 years have gone. He is the sweetest most amazing little boy.  He is so loving and always looking out for his little brother. He's shy but he loves attention.  He has grown and matured a ton in the last year!  He is so much fun right now.  He is getting really good at listening and following instructions.  He loves to play with Link and other kids especially his cousins.  

Jacks is a little bit shy now.  If he knows someone he always wants their attention but around people he doesn't know he get a little bit shy.  He gets nervous in new situations. He likes to have me or Jordan around anytime he has to go into a new situation.  He loves other kids but around adults he get a little shy. In public he doesn't like to be where he can't see me.  It's really nice because he doesn't ever run away from me so I don't worry about losing him.   

Jacks has matured so much lately.  He is better to wait his turn for things and be patient.  He really sweet and always shares with Link.  At his birthday party he got a lot of nice presents and he just shared with Link without even being asked.  He got a pack of Avengers and he just handed Link Captain America and basically let him have it because he knows Captain America is Lincoln's favorite.  He's just always really sweet to everyone and especially his brother. He is the least selfish kids I've ever met.  

Jacks is such a loving kid he is always telling people he loves them.  He can always tell when I'm stressed or mad and he'll just for no reason say "Mom I love you."  He tells Link, his cousins and friends he loves them all the time.  He just always sees the best in people and always forgives them for everything.  It doesn't matter if Link hits him, steals his toys, or says something mean Jack just brushes it off and keeps playing with him.  He is so sweet he just really loves people. 

Jacks is so silly.  He loves to have fun and always has the funniest things to say. He keeps me laughing all day.  He is at a really fun age he gets really excited about things now.  He's finally old enough to understand holidays and gets really excited.  

Things that Jacks likes:

-Swimming:  He could swim all day everyday if I'd let him he just loves the water.  He's not afraid to put his face under the water at all.  He just loves to be in any kind of pool, splash pad, or basically anything with water.

-Transformers and Avengers

-Playing with Link

-Playing with cousins

-Crafts

-Science experiments 

- Legos

-Building forts/houses for his toys

-Throwing rocks in rivers.

-Playing at the park.  Especially swinging and underdog.

-Staying up past his bedtime

-Costumes/dressing up